St. Paul Saints pitchers walked 20 batters in a 19-3 loss to the Worcester WooSox on Tuesday night, which had to be frustrating for an organization dedicated to emphasizing the fun that can be had at the Ol’ Ballpark.
One day before April 1?
The Saints set a franchise record with the 20 walks, which, while not that impressive historically — the Saints’ rebirth as the Twins’ Triple-A club dates only to 2021 — will be difficult to beat. As the kids said 10 years ago, it’s pretty epic.
Speaking of 10, that’s how many runs the Saints allowed in the sixth inning, another franchise record that will almost certainly have a shorter shelf life than the 20 walks. The free passes are more remarkable and easier to make jokes about.
What’s the official distance between Target Field and CHS Field? Twenty walks.
Rim shot.
But we come here to praise Baseball with a capital B, not bury the way the Saints played it Tuesday or the current state of Twins baseball writ large. Baseball is a difficult game; failure is inevitable. Sometimes it comes down like a hard rain and stays for a bit. And like getting caught in a downpour, at some point you give in and it becomes fun.
And as Mike Veeck probably still says, fun is good. You’ll be dry tomorrow, and so will the players. That’s life.
After a while, it becomes fun, or at least funny — like watching Tsuyoshi Nishioka give up on a pop fly. Or watching Jody Davis hit a grand slam against the Mets to pull the Cubs within 25-10. It’s remarkable how many competitive disasters, whether it’s one mistake in the field or one lousy game, remain in the memory banks.
After a solid 50 years of attending baseball games, some excellent play stands out.
—Cubs catcher Rick Wrona faking a throw to second and catching a Mets runner at third in an extra-inning win at Wrigley.
—Kirby Puckett’s homer off of Charlie Liebrandt in Game 6.
—Nick Punto throwing home from short for the second out of the ninth inning of Game 163 at the Dome.
—Joe Mauer ending a 10-pitch, ninth-inning at-bat against Aroldis Chapman with a double to help the Twins rally past Cincinnati comes immediately to mind.
But the most fun anyone ever had at a ballpark was at a Cedar Rapids Reds game in around 1988. It’s doubtful anyone at this particular contest even remembers the opponent of Cincinnati’s Class A team, let alone who won. But at some point, one of the teams’ catchers threw to second in an attempt to pick off a base-stealer — and hit the pitcher square in the back.
One quick-witted fan immediately yelled, “Charge the plate!”
After the dust settled, the next batter singled to left to send the guy on second racing for home. The left fielder was determined to throw this man out, but his throw was so high that the catcher just watched it sail over his head, like an outfielder watching a no-doubter clear the wall.
After that, we might as well have been zapped by one of those “Men in Black” pens.
This is baseball.
Some of us have watched dozens of crisp, well-played 2-1 games and afterward said, “Well, that was a nice crisp, well-played game,” and almost immediately forgot what happened. Baseball is always enjoyable — I’m being told it’s America’s Pastime — but in the majors, they play (at least) 162 games every year, and the standard games ultimately get lost.
The axiom is you can always see something new at the ballpark; when you do, you tend to remember it, good or bad.
Those who were at CHS Field on Tuesday, and especially the few diehards who stayed for nine innings, will never forget those 20 walks in that 19-3 loss.
“Hey, I was once at a game …”
Baseball forever.